Railway car counting system



Dec. 13, 1960 B. MIsHELl-:vlcH I -ITAL RAILWAY CAR COUNTING SYSTEM 2Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May 1l, 1956 INVENTORS W @Y p n Y y .www Mm@ e e H.www/W www. W ---lwn a@ i p B 7 T H01. ZL/WM T No z :wm Me/ W. MWLWN w.@s BB B THEIR. TTR/E'Y Dec. 13, 1960 B`. MlsHl-:LEvlcH ET AL 2,964,617

RAILWAY CAR COUNTING SYSTEM 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed May ll, 1956 0 r w lfile Md@ JJM-AM m T 8 Mp m ,m 7 w Z M 5 mmh .au L.- 4 Mgm .Tw 5 Z@611,51 fu 1 4&4 NWN NII* mh* 4 www w/fm 14V Md H -iw w m #iL/ Z o 65 218v ma P, P *v MNT' BY w-/Mnk WHEIR HWTOH/Z'Y United States Patent RAILWAYcan coUNriNG SYSTEM Benjamin Mishelevich, Pittsburgh, Pa., and SihHsuinTsiang, Morristown, NJ., assiguors to Westinghouse Air Brake Company,Wilmerding, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Filed May 11, 1956, Ser.No. 584,208

9 Claims. (Cl. 246-122) Our invention pertains to a railway car countingsystem and more particularly to a system for indicating the fullness ofthe storage tracks in a railway classification yard.

This invention is an improvement upon that disclosed in our copendingapplication for Letters Patent of the United States, Serial No. 564,027,filed February 7, 1956, for a Car Counting System.

In the development of automatic operation of railway classificationyards, particularly speed control systems for the car retarders used insuch yards, it has been found necessary to include, among the variousfactors to be considered, a measurement of the fullness of each of thestorage tracks in the yard to which the railway cars may be routed. Thisinformation is used to assist in selecting or computing the speed atwhich the cars should leave the several car retarders. In other words,this factor helps to determine how fast a car or cut of cars should moveout of a car retarder, particularly the final retarder in any route, inorder to couple at the proper speed with the cars already standing inthe designated storage track. This factor enters into the computationsby providing a measurement of the distance yet to travel for theparticular car in question. 'I'he required accuracy of this trackfullness factor depends upon the degree of automatic operation of thefinal retarders. When operation of the speed control system at the finalretarder is to be completely automatic in determining the leaving speedand controlling the retarder pressure to obtain that leaving speed, ahigh degree of accuracy is required in each factor used, including thetrack fullness factor. In other words, the track fullness informationfurnished must be as accurate as is possible to obtain. The systemdisclosed in the previously mentioned copending application does notprovide a particularlyy high degree of accuracy of the track fullnessfactor since it is intended primarily for use when completely automaticoperation of the final car retarders is not contemplated.

It is accordingly an object of our invention to provide an improved carcounting system for railway classification yards.

Another object of our invention is to provide an improved system ofindicating the fullness of the various storage tracks in a railwayclassification yard.

Still another object of our invention is to provide an improved means ina railway classification yard to count the actual number of carsentering each storage track.

A further object of our invention is to provide an improved trackfullness indication using portions of the automatic switching system ofa railway classification yard to record each car in the counting deviceassociated Ywith the proper track.

yard, these devices beingof the typewhish advance one controls.

sidered that a switch positioned to divert a carto the left 2,964,617Patented Dec. 13, 1960 peaters of the -switch control storage relays invthe automatic switching system-in order that each count may beassociated with the proper track. In other words, at the initial switchleading to a group of storage tracks in the classification yard, eachswitch control storage relay in the final route storage bank associatedwith this initial switch is provided with a repeater relay. In the firstspecies of our invention, the proper counter for a particular cut ofcars is actuated, through selective circuits established by theserepeater relays, each time a track relay is released due to theoccupancy of a short track section in approach to this initial switch,this short track section being of a length such that it may be occupiedby only one pair of wheels and the associated axle of the car at a time.Thus, in this first species, our invention provides an aule countingmeans from which a track fullness indication may be obtained on thebasis that the great majority of cars being classified have but fouraxles. In a second species of our invention herein shown, a singlecounting device is actuated directly by the track relay for this shorttrack section. A reset relay is then provided which is picked up at theend of each groupof four counts inserted in the counting device, thatis, each time the counting device has counted the four axles whichusually signify one car. This reset relay resets the direct actingcounting device to its zero position and at the same time actuates theproper track counting device through the selector circuits establishedby the repeater relays. Thus the counting device for a particularstorage track is actuated once for each car entering that storage track.The fullness indication may then show the degree of track fullness orindicate the actual count of lthe number of cars entering that track.

Referring now to the drawings,

Fig. 1 shows in diagrammatic form apparatus embodying the first speciesof our invention, that is, an axle counting means for railway cars.

Fig. 2 shows diagrammatically a modification of the apparatus of Fig. 1by which an actual count of the cars entering each storage track may bemade.

In each of the drawings, similar reference characters refer to similarparts of the apparatus. Also, it is pointed out at this time that asuitable source of direct current energy is provided for the apparatusin each drawing, this power source being preferably a battery of propervoltage and capacity. For the sake of simplicity, however, this powersource is not shown but its positive and negative terminals areidentified by the conventional reference characters B and N,respectively. Furthermore, the contacts of slow acting relays areidentified in a conventional manner by vertical arrows thereon, thedirection of the arrow indicating the direction in which the relays areslow in operating.

Referring now to Fig. l, there is shown at the top of this drawing in aconventional manner a group of eight storage tracks -in a railwayclassification yard. It is assumed that these eight tracks are part of alarger number of storage tracks in -a complete classification yard. Itis also to be understood that our invention is not limited to groups ofeight storage tracks, but may be applied to larger or smaller trackgroups, as will be obvious as the specification progresses. Cars or cutsof cars being classified move or approach this group of tracks from theleft as is indicated by the arrow and pass over the initial switch ofthis group which is designated by the reference 18SW. From here the carsare routed to a pre-selected storage track over the various otherswitches, each of which is similarly designated as to the tracks whichit Throughout the specification, it will be conis in its normal positionwhile a switch is Iin its reverse position when it will divertfa car tothe right.

Switch l-SSW is provided with a detector track section relay lisdesignated by the reference l-STR and its connections to the rails areshown in a conventional way by a dotted line. Immediately in theapproach to section 1-8T is a short track section here designated ZT.This track section is relatively short and is of a length such that onlyone pair of wheels and the associated axle of a car may occupy thistrack section yat a` time. It is thus similar to the track sections usedfor timing purposes in retarder speed control systems which are wellknown in Vthe art. Actually, this section ZT may be the last such timingsection in the speed control system for a group car retarder which wouldbe the final retarder in the 2O route to any one of the tracks in thisparticular group here shown. Track section ZT is likewise provided witha track circuit which includes a track relay ZTR. Again the connectionof the track relay to the rails is shown in a conventional Way. Each ofthese track relays is nor `mally energized in the conventional mannerthrough the Yrails by a suitable source of current, not shown, and be-`cornes deenergized when any portion of the corresponding track sectionis occupiedby a car or any p-art of a car.

As part of the apparatus of our invention, we provide a repeater of thetrack relays ZTR and l-STR which is designated by the referencecharacter 1-8TP. This relay is energized, when either of the .twopreviously mentioned track relays are deenergized and released, over anobvious circuit including back contacts v11 and 12, in

multiple, ofi-clays l-STR and ZTR, respectively.v The `use of thisVrepeater relay in the general system of our invention will appear laterin thespeciicat-ion. It is to -be here Anoted that the controlcircuit-for. relay I-STR may be modified so thatthis relay releases inresponse to the occupancy of either section ZT or section 1-8T.

* The independent control of relay ZTR remains as shown. In thisarrangement, relay l-STP. would repeat only the release of track relayl-STR and would be thus energized only over back contact 11 of thislatter relay. Also, it is obvious that section ZT may be eliminatedentirely and relay ZTR replaced by any well known mechanical:

detection device such as a treadle or railV contactor, or by a radiantenergy detection device such as a magnetic detector or aphotoelectriccell.

The entire-classification yard of which the group of 'tracksl to 8 formapart is assumed to be equippedk L with an automatic switching system ofany type well known to the art. One such system is disclosed in thecopending application for Letters Patent of the United States Serial No.355,281, led May 15, 1953, by Benjarnin Mishelevich for AutomaticControl of Railway 'Classification Yard Track Switches, now Patent No.

2,863,991, issued December 9, 1958. A similar system is described in theinstruction pamphlet Manual 517, published in January 1953 by the UnionSwitch `& Signal,

Division of Westinghouse Air Brake Company, this man-- ual beingentitled Union Automatic Switching for Classification Yards. Forpurposes of this description, it will be assumed that the switchingsystem is similar to that described-in either of these references. Thedetails of the switching system are thus discussed herein only insufficient detail to provide an understanding of the operation of theapparatus comprising our invention. Reference is here made to Manual5147 and/or Patent No.

2,863,991 for a complete description of the automatic switch-ing systemif desired.

As'` part of the automatic switching apparatus, each switch location inthis yard has associated"therewithH one or more route storage banks.Each such storage bank includes a number of switch control storagerelays, a storage transfer relay, and a storage detectorrelay. Thus thefinal or A storage bank for switch 1-8SW includes 5 the switch controlstorage relays A1W to A4W, inclusive,

the storage transfer relay AST, and the storage detector relay ASD. Asindicated on the drawing, relay AST is energized to initiate a storagetransfer into bank A at switch l-SSW and remains energized during thecomplete transfer action. Relay AST is released when the storagetransfer action is completed and cannot be reenergized until bank A isagain free of a route storage.

Storage detector relay ASD is energized when a route is to betransferred into bank A and stored therein. This relay is energized by acircuit extending from terminal yB over front contact 13 of relay AST,the winding of relay ASD, and back contacts 14 and 15 of the storagetransfer relays 1-4ST and 5-8ST, respectively, to terminal N. Transferrelays 1-4ST and S-SST are associated, respectively, with the routestorage banks for switches 1-4SW and S-SSW. Back contacts 14 and 15 areincluded in the energizing circuit for relay ASD to illustrate, in aconventional way, that -a route storage cannot be transferred into bankA unless the proper conditions exist,

that is, no similar transfer of another route storage from bank A into asucceeding storage bank is in progress. These back contacts also providea means of interrupting the stick circuit for relay ASD at the propertime, as will Abe explained shortly. Also, the conventional dotted line3o between terminal B and front contact 13 of relay AST is intended toportray circuit connections of the switching `system not here'finvolvedwhich provide other features lsuch as individual and generalcancellation of route storlages. A more complete understanding of theenergizing :circuit for relay ASD vand the details of operation may bejhadv by referring to the previously mentioned Patent 2,863,991 orManual 517. Relay ASD is further provided with a stick circuit whichincludes its ownv front contact 16 to by-pass front contact 13 of relayAST, this llatter contact opening' as'soon as the transfer action into'l bank A is complete. Relay ASD, once energized as'a route is stored inthe A bank, remains energized until this route is transferred to asucceeding storage bank, the stick circuit being interrupted at thattime by the energization of either relay 1-4ST or relay 5-8ST. It is tobe noted that relay ASD has slow release characteristics so that,'although the relay is deenergized by the opening of back contact 14 or15, its front contacts remain closed vuntil the route information istransferred.

Suicient switch control storage relays are provided in this A bank toAprovide one lrelay for each switch in :any possible route to a storagetrack which passes over :switch 1-8SW. In other words, there must be aswitch -control storage relay for each of the maximum number 5 ofswitches, including switch l-SSW, in any route which may be stored inbank A. Each of these switch control storage relays is energized whenthe corresponding switch .is to be operated -to its reverse position.Accordingly, 1. each'relay is released when the corresponding switch isto be operated to its normal position. Thus the :combination ofenergized relays of the group AlW to A4W, inclusive, determines theroute which the corresponding car will follow as it passes over switch1-8SW -and the other switches Vassociated with this group of A"storagetracks. Although only four switch control storlage relays are hereshownfor bankA, it is to be under- .stood that other lstorage track groups,even those having eight tracks, may require a different number of suchrelays i'n theA vbank for the initial switch, the number of relays usedbeing determined by the actual'physical arrangement of the tracks andswitches. rOur invention is not limited to any particular number ofswitch control storage relays, butnf1ay be adapted to anyarrangement,

as willbe'apparent as the speeicati'on progresses;y

The energized combination which these switch control storage relaysassume for any particular cut of cars is transferred into this bank fromasimilar preceding storage bank, such as'the relays in bank B associatedwith thesame switch. The switch control storage relays in such apreceding bank are shown conventionally in Fig. 1 by a single relaysymbol and their contacts are designated by the reference characters B1Wto B4W, inclusive. As explained in the previously mentioned switchingsystem references, the energized combination is initially determined asthe result of a selection by the yard operator of a route for theparticular cut of cars as it leaves the hump, the stored route thenbeing transferred in sequence as the corresponding cars move from switchto switch in the yard along their selected route. The switch control foreach switch is dropped from the combination as the route storagetransfers from the corresponding A bank. Thus the energizing circuit forrelay AlW in this A bank for switch l-SSW may be traced from terminal Bover front contact 17 of relay BIW, front contact 18 of relay AST,thewinding of relay AlW, and front contact 19 of relay ASD to terminalN. When relay AIW picks up, it establishes a stick circuit whichincludes its own front contact 20, the relay winding, and front contact19 of relay ASD, so that the switch control storage relay if energizedremains held up while the route remains stored in this particular Abank. Each of the other switch control storage relays in bank A isenergized over a similar circuit controlled, respectively, by relaysBZW, BSW, and B4W and, if energized, is held energized by a stickcircuit established at its own front contact. It is to be seen,therefore, that when a route storage is transferred into this A bank,the energized combination of the switch control storage relays BlW toB4W in the preceding bank determines the corresponding energizedcombination which relays A1W to A4W assume upon completion of thestorage transfer.

Our invention adds a repeater relay for each of the switch controlstorage relays of this A bank. These repeater relays are here designatedby the reference characters All), AZP, ASP, and A4P, respectively. Eachof these repeater relays is energized when the corresponding switchcontrol storage relay becomes energized. For example, the energizingcircuit for relay A1P may be traced from terminal B at front contact 21of relay A1W through back contact 22 of relay 1-8TP and the winding ofrelay A1P to terminal N. When a car is occupying either of the tracksections ZT or l-ST, a stick circuit is established for relay AIP, ifpreviously energized, which may be traced from terminal B at frontContact 23 of relay AlP over front Contact 22 of relay l-STP and thewinding of relay AIP to terminal N. The repeater relays are madeslightly slow release so that, if energized, they will remain held upduring the transfer time of the contacts of relay 1-8TP. This stickcircuit is necessary since the route stored in the switch controlstorage relays AlW to A4W, inclusive, is transferred to the succeedingstorage bank along the selected route as soon as the corresponding caror cut of cars occupies track section 1-8T. As will appear later, therepeater relays must remain energized in whatever combination selecteduntil the entire car or cut ofcars has passed over track section ZT sothat a complete count may be entered in the proper counting device. Thestick circuit for relay A1P assures that this relay, if initiallyenergized, will thus remain energized until the car has cleared sectionZT. Each of the repeater relays has similar energizing and stickcircuits, as will be obvious from an inspection of the drawing, and itis unnecessary to trace these circuits in detail.

Our invention also adds a repeater rela-y of the storage detector relayASD, this repeater relay being designated by the reference characterASDP. This relay is energized at any time that a route is stored in bankA and is held energized until the associated cut of cars has cleared thedetector track section. The energizing circuit for relay ASDP may betraced from terminal B over front contact 24 of relay ASD, back contact25 of relay I STP, and the' winding of relay ASDP to terminal N, Whenrelay l-TP is energized and picks up, a stickcircuit is completed f orrelay IASDP which includes front contact 26 of this latter relay andfront contact 25 of relay I-STP. As will appear shortly, relay ASDP mustbe picked up for a count to be entered in any one of the countingdevices and thus prevents the entry of a count during a reverse movementout of the storage tracks over switch 1-8SW.

One counting device is provided for each storage track in the groupshown at the top of the drawing. These devices are shown at the right ofFig. 1 by conventional symbols with a number inside each symbol toindicate the storage track with which that particular counter isassociated. Each of these counters is an electrical counting device andmay be a Veeder counter, a stepping switch, a magnetic impulse counter,or any other similar type of counter which will advance one count or onestep during each period of energization of the counter. lt is tobeunderstood that any such counter will work equally well in the system ofour invention shown in Fig. 1 and the use of any one of these types ordesigns of counting devices is anticipated.

The particular counter in which a cut of cars moving over switch l-SSWis to be recorded is selected by the repeater relays in accordance withthe existing energized combination of these four relays, that is, inaccordance with the track to which the particular cut or" cars is beingrouted. The selected counter is then energized each time relay ZTRreleases and thus, as previously explained, counts each axle of the caror cut of cars passing over the initial switch. For example, if a car isrouted to track 1, each switch in the route must occupy its normalposition so that all switch control storage relays and, correspondingly,all their repeater relays are deenergized. Counter 1 will then beenergized each. time relay ZTR releases through a circuit traced fromterminal B over back contact 27 of relay ZTR, front contact 2-.8 ofrelay ASDP, which assures that a route has been stored for thisparticular movement over the switch, back contact 29 of relay AIP, backcontact 30 of relay AZP, back contact 31 of relay ASP, back contact 32.of A'4P, and the winding of counter No. 1 to terminal N. Each axle ofthis particular cut of cars will lthus be recorded by counter No. 1. Ifthe cut of cars is routed to track 4, the circuit for counter No. 4would include back contact 27 of relay ZTR, front contact 28 of relayASDP, back contact 29 of relay AIP, front contact 30 of relay AZP, andthe winding of counter No. 4. Similarly, if a cut is designated fortrack 7, the energzing circuit for counter No. 7 would include, inaddition to back contact 27 and front contact 218 previously mentioned,front contact 29 of relay A1P, front contact 33 of relay A2P, frontcontact 34 of relay ASP, and back contact 3S of relay A4P. Similarenergizing circuit-s for the remaining counters may be traced, but adetailed description is not considered to be necessary, las thesecircuits are obvious from an inspection of the drawing when 'taken inconnection with the previous circuit descriptions.

The counters 1 to 8, inclusive, may then be used to activate some typeof a visual track fullness indicator. The circuit arrangement for thiscontrol is not here shown as the actual details would depend upon thetype of counter in service. One possible method for a particular typecounter will be discussed later in connection with the description ofthe second species of our invention.

The series of counters may also be used to provide a track fullnessfactor which may be recorded in a storage device for use in. .theautomatic speed control system associated with the car Aretarclers usedin this classicaaesinet? tion yard. In providing a visual track fullnessindication or a track fullness storage factor, proper consideration mustbe taken that Ythe* actual count recorded inv any one of these countersis an aXle count and that this total count must be divided by a factorof four to obtain the number of cars occupying any particular storagetrack.

Referring now to Fig. 2 which shows a second form of our invention, theapparatus illustrated therein elaborates on the system of Fig. 1 toprovide an actual car count recorded in thecounting device associatedwith each storage track. 4Basically, the apparatus is similar to thatshown in Fig. l and already discussed. For example, the same group ofstorage tracks 1 to 8 is involved in the counting system. The repeaterrelays All to A41? of the switch control storage relays are shown, butwithout the control circuits since these are identical with thosealready shown and discussed in connection with Fig. l. Likewise, trackrelay ZTR, track repeater relay 1-8'l`P, and storage detector repeaterrelay ASDP are identical with the similar designated relays shown inFig. 1 and are similarly controlled. Thus, all these circuits have beenomitted from Fig. 2 for simplicity and to eliminate any repetition ofthe discussion.

In the system illustrated in Fig. 2, relay ZTR controls directly anauxiliary or general counting device designated by the referencecharacter GMC. For purposes of showing actual details of the manner ofproviding the car count, this counting device is here shown as being ofthe magnetic impulse counter type. It will be herein assumed forpurposes of this description that this magnetic impulse counter issimilar to those shown and described in any of the Letters Patent of theUnited States Nos. 2,487,015, 2,538,817, and 2,538,819 granted to JohnI. Bellamy for Electromagnetic Counting Devices, the earliest patentbeing issued November 1, 1949, and the latter two patents being issuedJanuary 23, 1 951. It is to be understood, of course, that other typesof counting devices may be `used with the apparatus illustrated in Fig.2 and that our invention is not limited to the use of 'such magneticimpulse counters as here illustrated. The

other types of counting devices previously mentioned may 4be adapted toprovide an actual car count by properly designing the circuitarrangement according to well known principles.

To provide an understanding of the operation of the Y actual detailedarrangement shown in Fig. 2, ythe magnetic impulse counter GMC as hereshown has two windings and is provided with 10 individual armatures,each armature controlling a lower make and an upper break contact. Thesearmatures are operated sequentially in response to electrical impulsesor pulses ot current owing'lthrough the upper winding. This operatingwinding of the magnetic impulse counter is designated by an arrowpointing upward inside the symbol for that winding. Only ,one armatureis operated with each pulse of current flowing through this upperwinding, the armatures being interlocked in such a fashion that a pulseof current operates a particular armature and at the same timeconditions the next armature in the sequence tok operate on the nextpulse of current. However, only a single pulse of current is required tooperate the iirst armature. Once actuated, each armature is held inits'operated position -by residual magnetism supplied in some models from apermanent magnet provided in the impulse counter. As shown in Fig. 2,the armatures operate sequentially in ascending order of the numbersused as reference characters for the contacts, that is, from 1 to 10 inorder. In magnetic impulse counter GMC, vand in counters 4MC1 and `4MC2to be discussed later, certain of the armatures in the sequence havebeen omitted from the detailed showing since they do not specificallyenter into the operation of the circuits. These omissions are indicatedby conventional dotted lines in the connections` shown, as will beapparent during 'the 'following discussion.

In each of the magnetic impulse counters, release of the actuatedarmatures is accomplished by energizing a second or lower winding whichacts to neutralize the residual magnetism holding the armatures in theiroperated position. In the drawing, this release winding is designated byan arrow pointing downward inside the symbol for the winding. Restatedin another fashion, the iirst pulse of current flowing through the upperwinding of one of the magnetic impulse counters actuates the No. 1armature to open its upper contact and close its lower contact. Thispulse also conditions the No. 2 armature to operate on the next pulse ofcurrent. However, the No. 2 armature cannot be operated by this initialpulse of current which operated the No. 1 armature. The second pulse ofcurrent flowing through the upper winding of the counter then causes theNo. 2 armature to operate, similarly opening its upper contact andclosing its lower contact, and conditions the No. 3 armature to operateon the succeeding pulse. Once operated, the No. 1 and No. 2 armaturesare held in their operated position by residual magnetism until theimpulse counter is released by a pulse of current flowing through thelower winding.

Similar magnetic impulse counters .in pairs are used as the countingdevice for each storage track. For the sake of simplicity, only the pairfor track 4 is shown in Fig. 2. This pair is the previously mentionedmagnetic impulse counters 4MC1 and 4MC2.

The apparatus of lFig. 2 also includes a reset relay for each countingdevice. lFor example, the general reset relay GRS is associated withmagnetic impulse counter GMC. Relay GRS is energized during normaloperation over a first pickup circuit traced from terminal B over uppercontact 5 and lower contact 4 of counter GMC 'and the winding of relayGRS to terminal N. A second pickup circuit, which is effective only whenrelays ASDP and 1-8TP are released, may be traced from terminal Bthrough back contact 36 of relay lASDP,

back contact 37 of relay 1-'8TP, any one of three paths Vincluding,respectively, upper contact 2 and lower contact 1`, upper'cont'act 3 andlower contact 2, or upper contact 4 and lower contact 3, all of counterGMC, and

'the winding of relay GRS to terminal N. One of the relation with thewindingof Vrelay GRS when back contact 39 is closed'. When relay'v GRSis energized and picks up, the closing of its front contact 41 completesa circuit through the lower winding of counter GMC which causes thecounter to reset to its zero position, that is, with all armaturesreleased and all lower contacts open.

The reset relay 4RS is used to reset impulse counter V4MC1 associatedwith storage track 4. The reset circuit through the lower winding ofcounter` 4MC1 is completed at front contact 42 of relay 4RS when thislatter relay is energized and picks up. When relay 4RS picks up, it alsocompletes a circuit which drives counter 4MC2 to advance one count inits cycle of operation. This circuit may be traced from terminal B overfront contact 43 of relay 4RS through the upper winding of counter 4MC2to terminal N. Relay 4RS is provided with an energizing circuit which,as shown, is completed from terminal B over lower contact 10 of counter4MC1 through the winding of relay 4RS to terminal N. However, it isobvious that this energizing circuit maybe connected to any one of thelower contacts of counter 4MC1 so that relay 4RS may be energized at anyselected point in the cycle of operation of counter 4MC1.

Counter 4MC2 is reset by a manual operation only, and in conjunctionwith this, counter 4MC1 will be reset at the same time. The actualcircuit arrangement for this is not shown in Fig. 2, but may be similarto that shown for the magnetic impulse counters in -the previouslymentioned copending application, Serial No. 564,027. Briey, to manuallyreset counters 4MC1 and 4MC2, energy is applied over contacts of amanually operated push button or lever to wires 44 and 45 and from thesewires to the lower windings of the two impulse counters, causing eachcounter to reset to its zero position with all of the lower contactsopen. This manual reset action is used to reset the counters when theassociated storage track is cleared of all, or at least a portion, ofthe cars which have entered that track. In the event that not all of thecars are cleared from the associated track, a count corresponding tothose cars remaining in the track may be manually entered in counter4MC1 by operating the previously mentioned push button or lever to asecond position to apply energy to wire 46 and thence over back contact47 of relay 4RS to the upper winding of counter 4MC1. As many counts asdesired may be entered manually in this fashion.

We shall now describe the operation of the system illustrated in Fig. 2.Each time relay ZTR is released and closes back contact 27, theenergizing circuit for counter GMC is completed, this circuit alsoincluding back contact 48 of relay GRS. At this time, with relay 1-8TPpicked up to open back contact 37 and, if a route has been stored inbank A, relay ASDP picked up to open back contact 36, the secondenergizing circuit for reset relay GRS is open and this relay is notenergized during the rst three counts entered in counter GMC. When afourth count is entered in counter GMC by the fourth successive releaseof relay ZTR, the previously traced first energizing circuit for relayGRS, including lower contact 4 of counter GMC, is completed and thisrelay picks up. The closing of front contact 41 of relay GRS resetscounter GMC to its zero position, as previously explained. Relay GRS isheld energized at this time, by the stick circuit including its ownfront contact 38, until relay ZTR again picks up. This allows suliicienttime for counter GMC to be reset.

When relay GRS picks up, it also completes a circuit for energizingcounter 4MC1, assuming for purposes of this explanation that the car orcut of cars is being routed to track 4. This circuit may be traced fromterminal B at front contact 49 of relay GRS over front contact 28 ofrelay ASDP, which assures that a route has been stored for the carpassing over switch 1-8SW, back contact 29 of relay AIP, front contact30 of relay AZP, back contact 47 of relay 4RS, and the upper winding ofcounter 4MC1 to terminal N. rThis energization of counter 4MC1 causes itto advance one count in its cycle. Thus relay GRS energizes counter 4MC1once for each four counts entered into general counter GMC by trackrelay ZTR. In other words, each count entered into counter 4MC1represents one car under most operating conditions since, as previouslymentioned, the great majority of railway cars handled in aclassification yard have but vfour axles. It is obvious, if the car hadbeen routed to another storage track, that the iirst impulse counterassociated with that track would be energized in a similar manner over acircuit selected by the switch control storage repeater relays, AIP toA4P, inclusive, as was discussed in connection with Fig. l.

As shown in Fig. 2, at the end of a complete cycle of operation ofcounter 4MC1, that is, at the end 'of ten counts, relay 4RS is energizedin a manner previously explained. Also as mentioned hereinbefore, it isobvious that relay 4RS may be energized at the end of any selected countless than ten by connecting its energizing circuit to the lower contactof counter 4MC1 corresponding to the selected count. When relay 4RSpicks up, itenergizes the upper winding of counter 4MC2 and resetscounter 4MC1, both operations having been previously explained. Thus onecount jis entered in counter 4MC2 for every ten counts, that is, forevery ten cars counted by counter 4MC1. Connections from the lowercontacts of counter 4MC2 may be made to any type of a Visual trackfullness indicator or track fullness storage device as desired in orderto provide the necessary track fullness information for the operation ofthe speed control system of the car retarders, as was previouslymentioned.

It may occur in the operation of the system that a car having more thanfour axles, `for example, six axles, will pass over switch 1,-8SW orthat poor shunting -by a pair of wheels of an ordinary car will fail torelease relay ZTR during the passage of one axle through track sectionZT. In t-his event, one, two, or three counts remain stored in generalcounter GMC when the car or cut of cars leaves detector track section1-8T. As soon as the car leaves section 18T, relay l-STP is deenergizedand releases. This interrupts the stick circuit for relay ASDP and, ifno succeeding route storage has been transferred into bank A, relay ASDPalso releases. The closing of back contacts 36 and 37 of relays ASDP andl-STP, respectively, completes the second energizing circuit for resetrelay GRS which immediately picks up. The closing of front contact 41 ofrelay GRS energizes the reset winding of counter GMC, which resets toits zero position thus erasing the partial count stored therein. Thisalso interrupts the energizing circuit for relay GRS. However, sinceback contact 39 of relay l-STP is closed at this time, the retardationcircuit including resistor 40 is effective to hold relay GRS with itsfront contacts closed for a suicient period to assure that counter GMCcompletely resets to its zero position. This clears any countsimproperly stored in counter GMC. It is to be noted that, during theregular counting operation, the retardation circuit for reset relay GRSis not needed since its stick circuit will hold the relay energized fora sufficient period to reset counter GMC prior to the initiation of thesucceeding counting operation.

It is to be understood, however, that the clearing of improperly storedcounts from counter GMC does not necessarily occur immediately after thecut which caused the storage of the partial count clears section lli-8T.If a new route storage for a succeeding cut of cars has been transferredinto bank A while the cut being counted still occupies section l-ST,relay ASD will be held energized by its stick circuit. Thus, when relayl-STP eventually releases and interrupts, at its front cont-act 25, thestick circuit for relay ASDP, the energizing circuit for this latterrelay is completed almost immediately at back contact 25 since frontcontact 24 of relay ASD is already closed. Relay ASDP is sufficientlyslow release to bridge the transfer time Aof contact 2S, and thereforedoes not release. Under these conditions, the second energizing circuitfor relay'GRS is not completed, since back contact 36 of relay ASDPremains open. However, the proper conditions, that is, bank A empty whensections l-ST and ZT are free, will occur with suicient regularity thatthe second energizing circuit for relay'GRS will be completed within areasonable time after each improper or partial count storage occurs andthe system will Ibe cleared frequently enough to maintain an accuratecount.

It is thus to be seen that the system of our invention provides a meansin a railway classiiication yard for accurately. counting the number ofcars entering each storage track. This system is relatively simple andinexpensive to provide since it uses existing automatic switchingcircuits. as the principal control means of the system. In other words,the counting device for each track is selected through the routesalready stored in the automatic switching circuits. in addition, onlyone actuating means is used forthe counters for each group of storagetracks. It is further to be seen that the Ysystem of our inventionprevents the counters from being actuated during reverse movements fromthe storage tracks over the entrance switches. The counts re'- ,cordedin the various counters may be used to provide a visual track fullnessindication or may be used to provide a track fullness storage factorwhich can be further used in an automatic speed control system. Finally,the system of our invention is not limited to a particular type ofcounter, but various types maybe used with equal facility to record thecar counts provided by the system of our invention.

Although we have herein shown and described but two forms of apparatusfor a railway car counting system embodying our invention, it is to beunderstood that various changes and modifications may be made there inwithin the scope of the appended claims without departing from thespirit and scope of our invention.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim l. In a railwayclassification yard equipped with an automatic switching system forrouting cars into the storage tracks, said system including at least oneroute storage relay bank for each track switch, each said relay bankincluding a plurality of switch control storage relays one for eachtrack switch in any possible route including the associated switch, saidstorage relays in the relay bank for each switch being controlled bysaid switching system to be energized into diierent energzedcombinations according to the selected route for the next approachingcar, the combination comprising, a plurality of repeater relays one forlrepeating at times each switch control storage relay in the tinal bankfor vthe initial switch governing routes into a particular group ofstorage tracks, a plurality of electrical counting devices one for'counting the axles entering each storage track of said particulargroup, a track relay having connections to the track at said initialswitch to be operated 'in response'to the passage of each axle' of a carappro'aching said initial switch, energizing circuits includ- 'ingenergized position contacts of the storage relays of said iinal bank andconnected to energizesaid repeater 'relays in a combinationcorresponding to the energized Vcombination of said final bank storagerelays, stick circuit means controlled by the `occupancyof the tracksection including said initial switch and connected for maintainingenergized the existing energized combination of said repeater relayswhile a car passes over said initial swtich, and a circuit networkincluding an operated position contact of said track relay, front andback contacts of said repeater relays, and said counting devices, saidcircuit network being effective to periodically energize the counting4device corresponding tothe preselected storage track foran approaching.car to count `the number of axles of that car. ,V l

2. At a railway track switch over which railwaycars are selectivelyrouted according. -to preselected routes to a plurality of storagetracks, car counting apparatus comprising, a plurality of storagerepeater relays energizable in any one of a plurality of energizedcombinations according to the preselected route stored at said switchfor an approaching car, an electrical counting device operable toadvance one count for each` period of cnergization for counting the carsentering each storage track, another relay connected to be responsive tothe Aoccupancy of the track by a car approaching said switch to close acontact, and a circuit network including front and back contacts of saidrepeater relays, saidv contact of said other relay, and said countingdevices to energize the counting device associated with the storagetrack preselected for a carvpassing over said Switch to record that car.y

3. At a railway track switch over which railway cars are selectivelyrouted according to preselected routes to va plurality of storagetracks, a car counting arrangement to record the number of cars routedto each of said storage tracks, said counting arrangement comprising edroute stored in said storage relay bank for the next approaching car,stick circuit means controlled by the occupancy of said track sectionfor holding said repeater an electrical counting" device operableto'advance' one 'count for leach period of yenergization for countingthe "cars entering each said storage track, a plurality of storagerepeater relays energizable into a diierent energized combination torepresent each possible route over said switch-circuit means responsiveto the preselected route for energizing said repeater relays in thecombination representing the preselected route for each approaching car,and an energizing circuit network including said counting devices, acontact closed in response to the passage of each car approaching saidswitch and front and back contacts of said repeater relays to energizethe counting device for the track represented by the existing energizedcombination of said repeater relays to record the approaching car.

'the combination comprising, a plurality of Storage repeater relaysenergizable in a different energized combination to represent eachpossible route over said switch, an electrical counting devicerepresenting each track of said group, an auxiliary counting device,each said counting device normally occupying a zero position and adaptedto advance one count during each period of energization, a reset relay,a normally open contact having connections to the track in approach tosaid switch so as to be closed in response to the passage of each axleof a car approaching said switch, circuit means controlled by thestorage relay bank and by the unoccupied condition of the track sectionincluding said initial switch for energizing said storage repeaterrelays in an energized combination representing the preselectrelays inthe existing energized combination while the corresponding car ispassing over said switch, .an energizing circuit for said auxiliary-counting device including said4 normally open contact, a reset circuitfor said 'auxiliaryy counting device including an energized positioncontact fof said reset relay, said reset circuit being -eiective whencompleted to reset said auxiliary counting device to its zero position,an energizing circuit for 'said reset relay including a contact of saidauxiliary counting device closed after a preselected number of counts,and other energizing circuits one for each track counting device, eachsaidV other circuit including another energized position contact of saidreset relay and selected repeater relay contacts closed in series onlywhen said repeater relays are energized in the combination representingthe route to the associated storage track.

5. In combination, a plurality of electrical counting devices, operableto advance one count of each period of 'energizatiom one for each trackof a group of storage tracks in a railway classification yard, aplurality of storage repeater relays energizable into a vdiierentenergized combination to represent each possible route over the initialswitch into said group, an auxiliary counting means having connection tothe track in approach of said initial switch for controlling a normallyopen contact, to close once during the passage of each car over 'eachcounting device including said contact of said auxiliary counting'means; another contact closed only when ,w13 `a preselected route isstored for an approaching. car, and contacts of said repeater relaysclosed in Series to complete `the circuit only when theexistingvenergized combination of said repeater relays represents theroute to the storage track associated with that counting device, eachenergizing circuit being effective to record in the correspondingcounting device all cars routed to the associated storage track.

6, At the initial track switch for a particular group of storage tracksin a railway classification yard equipped with an automatic switchingsystem, said system having at least one Stora-ge relay bank at eachswitch to store the preselected route for the next car approaching overthe lead track to said initial switch, the combination comprising, aplurality of storage repeater relays energizable in a differentcombination to represent each possible route over said switch, anelectrical counting device for each track of said group, an auxiliarycounting device, each said counting device normally occupying a zeroposition and being adapted to advance one count during each period ofenergization, a reset relay, a normally open contact having .Connectionsto the lead track in approach to said switch so as to be closed inresponse to the passage of each axle of a car approaching said switch,circuit means controlled by said automatic switching system forenergizing said storage repeater relays in the combination correspondingto the preselected route stored in said storage relay bank, stickcircuit means controlled by the occupancy of said lead track for holdingsaid repeater relays in the existing energized combination while thecorresponding car is passing over said switch, an energizing circuit forsaid auxiliary counting device including said normally open contact, areset circuit for said auxiliary counting device including an energizedposition contact of said reset relay, said reset circuit being effectivewhen completed to reset said auxiliary counting device to its zeroposition, a first energizing circuit for said reset relay including acontact of said auxiliary counting device closed after a preselectednumber of counts, a second energizing circuit for said reset relayincluding a contact closed only when no car is passing over said switchand contacts in multiple of said auxiliary counting device which areclosed one at a time for each count less than said preselected number,said second energizing circuit being effective to energize said resetrelay when an incomplete count remains in said auxiliary counting deviceafter a car passes over said switch, and other energizing circuits onefor each track counting device, each said other circuit includinganother energized position contact of said reset relay and selectedrepeater relay contacts closed in series only when said repeater relaysare energized in the combination representing the storage trackcorresponding to that counting device.

7. At the initial track switch for a particular group of storage tracksin a railway classification yard equipped with an automatic switchingsystem, said system having at least one storage relay bank at eachswitch to store4 the preselected route for the next car approaching saidinitial switch over the lead track, the combination comprising, aplurality of storage repeater relays energizable in a differentenergized combination to represent each possible route over said switch,a track repeater relay having connections -to said lead track to beenergized when a car is passing over said switch, a storage detectorrepeater relay, an electrical counting device for each track of saidgroup, an auxiliary counting device, each said counting device normallyoccupying a zero position and being adapted to advance one count duringeach period of energization, a reset relay, a normally open contacthaving connections to the lead track and closed in response to thepassage of each axle of a car approaching said switch, an energizingcircuit for said storage detector repeater relay including a backcontact of said track repeater relay and another contact 14 closed onlywhen a preselected route is stored in said storage bank, a stick circuitfor said storage detector yrepeater relay includinga front contact ofsaid track repeater relay, other energizing circuits including otherkback contacts of said track repeater relay and contacts controlled bysaid storage relay bank to energize said storage repeater relays'in theenergized combination corresponding to the preselected route stored insaid storage bank, other stick circuits including other front contactsof said track repeater relay to hold said storage repeater relays in theexisting energized combination, an energizing circuit for said auxiliarycounting device iucluding said normally open contact, a reset circuitfor said auxiliary counting device including an energized positioncontact of said reset relay, said reset circuit being effective whencompleted to reset said auxiliary counting device to its zero position,an energizing circuit for said reset relay including a contact of saidauxiliary counting device closed after a preselected number of counts; asecond energizing circuit for said reset relay including a back contactof said storage detector repeater relay, another back contact of saidtrack repeater relay, and contacts in multiple of said auxiliarycounting device which are closed one at a time for each count less thansaid preselected number; said second venergizing circuit being effectiveto cause said auxiliary counting device to be reset when a count isstored therein with no route stored in said storage -bank and no carpassing over said switch, and an energizing circuit for each trackcounting device including another energized position contact of saidreset relay, a front contact of said storage detector repeater relay,and selected storage repeater relay contacts closed in series only whensaid storage repeater relays are energized in the combinationrepresenting the associated track, to periodically energize thecorresponding counting device to count each car routed to the associatedstorage track.

8. In a railway classification yard equipped with an automatic switchingsystem for routing cars into the storage tracks in accordance withpreselected routes, said system including at least one route storagerelay bank for each track switch, each said relay bank including aplurality of switch control storage relays one for storing the positionof each track switch in any possible route including -the associatedswitch, said storage relays in the final bank for each switch beingcontrolled by said switching system to be sequentially energized intodifferent energized combinations according to the selected route for thenext approaching car, track fullness measuring apparatus for eachstorage track of a particular group of tracks in said yard comprising, aplurality of storage repeater relays one for repeating at times eachswitch control storage relay in the final bank at the initial switch forsaid particular group of tracks, an electrical counting device for eachtrack of said particular -group and operable to advance one count duringeach period of energization, a track relay connected to the rails atsaid switch and responsive to each axle of a car routed over saidinitial switch to periodically close a normally open contact, energizingcircuit means controlled by said storage relays of said bank forenergizing said repeater relays in different combinations correspondingto the sequence of energized combinations of said final bank storagerelays, stick circuit means controlled by the occupancy of the tracksection including said initial switch for maintaining the existingenergized combina-tion of said repeater relays while a car passes oversaid initial switch, and another circuit network including said trackrelay contact, the counting devices for each storage track of saidparticular group, and front and back contacts of said repeater relaysclosed to complete different paths to select a different counting devicefor each energized combination of said repeater relays to periodicallyenergize the selected counting device to record the vil'llln'ess'of ofsaidparticular group. v,

9. In a railway classification yardequipped with an automatic switchingsystem for routing cars into the storage tracks in accordanceWithpreselected routes, said system including at least one route storagerelay bank .for each track switch, each said relay bank including aplurality of switch control storage relays one for storing the positionof eachv track switch in any possible route including the associatedswitch, said storage relays in the final bank for each switch beingcontrolled by said switching system to be sequentially energized indifferent energized combinations according to the selected route for thenext approaching car, track fullness rneasurng apparatus for aparticular track in Said yard comprising, an electrical counting deviceassociated withv said particular track and operable to advance one countduring each period of energization, sai-d counting device indicating bythe position to which advanced each storage track lthe fullness of saidparticular track, a plurality of storage repeater relays one forrepeating at times the position of each switch control storage relay inthe final relay bank for the initial switch of the track group iucludingsaid particular track, energizing circuit means controlled by thestorage relays of said linal relay bank for sequentially energizing saidrepeater relays in difw. I ferent combinations corresponding to thesequence of energized combinations of the i'inal bank storage relays forsaid initial switch, stick circuit means controlled by the occupancy ofthe track section including said initial switch for maintaining theexisting' energized combination of said repeaterY relays while a carpasses over said initial switch, and an energizing circuit for saidcounting device includinga contact periodically closed in response tothe passage of each car approaching said initial switch and contacts ofsaid repeater relays closed in a series circuit only when the energizedcombination of said repeater'relays represents'the route to saidparticular track.

References Cited in the le of this patent Y UNITED STATES PATENTS1,821,002 Brooks Sept. l, 1931 1,960,780 Hershey May 29, 1934 2,045,201Rabourdin Q. June 23, 1936 2,045,695 Brown June 20, 1936 2,096,404OHagan Oct. 19, 1937 2,184,544 Brooks Dec. 26, 1939 2,194,352 BrixnerMar. 19, 1940 v 2,487,015 Bellamy Nov. 1, 1948 2,700,728 Brixner Jan.25, 1955

